B.C. naturopath ordered to pay $20,000 over improper injections

A Maple Ridge naturopath has given up his licence for four years and agreed to pay $20,000 in fines and costs, after an investigation by the College of Naturopathic Physicians of B.C.

In a July 5 statement, the college says that Dr. Allan Strauss admitted that he didn’t get a patient’s “adequate, informed consent” and misled that person when he injected phenol as a cosmetic treatment.

Injecting phenol is not included in the “scope of practice” of naturopathic physicians, said the statement.

He also admitted to injecting two patients for a cosmetic purpose in Oct. 13, 2016 and March 21, 2017 – in contravention of a college order issued in Oct. 11, 2016.

That Oct. 11, 2016 order temporarily suspended him from giving injections for cosmetic purposes, while an earlier investigation was underway.

That investigation also looked at earlier allegations that Strauss previously may have failed to get informed consent before using phenol.

In the July 5 statement, Strauss also admitted to contravening the Oct. 11, 2016 order, by saying twice in June 2017 that he was authorized to give cosmetic injections and by offering to give them.

He’s also admitted to prescribing substances that naturopathic doctors are not allowed to prescribe – clonazepam, delatestryl, dexiron, DHEA, maxidex, lorazepam, and testosterone – and failed to keep adequate records for six patients, and that he improperly delegated authority to a licensed practical nurse to give cosmetic injections.

In October 2015, Strauss consented to a seven-day suspension after admitting to failing to meet a standard of care in treatment of patients by administering “counterfeit medical devices or substances.”

He was also fined $10,000 by the college.

But Strauss in a letter to naturopaths said that he did not know that the substance which he imported was counterfeit.

He contacted all patients who were affected and warned other practitioners to be sure of what they were using.

Strauss previously had been suspended in August 2017, on an interim basis, while the college investigated whether he had contravened the Oct. 11, 2016 order.

Strauss, in 2016, practised out of Salveo Naturopathic and Skin Care in Maple Ridge.

Phenol is listed on its website as an alternative to botox injections.